Massive Fight Breaks Out in Kursk
Russians are losing more than 1 soldier every minute
The first joint attack by Russian and North Korean troops to capture the Russian town of Malaya Loknya ended in disaster, as Ukrainian forces managed to destroy large portions of the armored columns that were forced to travel along paved roads before reaching their target.
“Some of Ukraine’s most elite and experienced units, including the 47th Mechanized Brigade, 82nd Airmobile Brigade, 17th Mechanized Brigade, and 80th Airmobile Brigade, were tasked with defending this area. Given these units’ expertise and strong leadership, they anticipated repeated large-scale Russian mechanized assaults along the paved roads to Malaya Loknya.
Recognizing that the Russians could only attack from two directions due to the limited road access, Ukrainian commanders prepared by deploying substantial drone units and implementing remote mining along these roads to counter the assault”, Euromaidan press reported from the frontlines.
Both sides have committed some of their well-equipped brigades to the frontline in Kursk, and the fighting remains intense — unlike anything I have seen since the start of the war. I can’t even compare this with Ukraine’s efforts to defend Avdiivka in February this year. That was purely defensive, and Ukraine lacked the strength to hold on as they were critically short of ammunition. The Russians ground their way into the town and eventually took control of it.
The difference here is that Ukraine seems to have no reservations about deploying its well-equipped brigades to defend the Russian territory it has occupied in Kursk. Although the amount of territory Ukraine holds in Kursk has decreased somewhat over the last two months, they still control around 700 square kilometers of Russian territory.
Russian forces are still maintaining pressure along the established frontline in occupied Ukraine, but their determination to expel Ukrainians from Russian territory in Kursk Oblast has intensified. Leaving this territory under Ukrainian control during negotiations would weaken their position.
Putin aims to assert that he is unwilling to relinquish any Ukrainian land he has occupied over the past two and a half years. In response, Ukraine will likely insist that they are not prepared to abandon Kursk. If the incoming U.S. administration led by Trump attempts to halt the war by freezing the frontline, any territory held by Ukrainians in Kursk Oblast could place the Kremlin in a challenging position for a long time.
As a result, Putin is going all out to push Ukraine out of Kursk Oblast, which may explain the increased pace of Russian attacks. Ukraine has yet to deploy some of its newly formed brigades to this battle. With Putin’s desperation and Ukraine’s available troops, expect the battle to continue with alarming intensity in the coming weeks.
There is also something the West can do to support Ukraine in Kursk. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are reportedly planning to urge President Biden to relax the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons.
For a long time, it was unclear why Britain and France kept looking to the United States to authorize Ukraine’s use of their missiles to strike targets inside Russia. The reason for this dependency has now become evident:
“Ukraine needs U.S. permission to fully utilize British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for long-range strikes into Russia because these missiles rely on advanced guidance systems that require highly accurate elevation maps owned by the United States. Without access to this classified cartography data, the missiles would have to rely solely on GPS navigation, making them more vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare and reducing their effectiveness.”
This is absolute madness. Look at the level of dependency Europe has built with the United States. It is situations like this that drive anti-western leaders like Putin to target the U.S. in an effort to weaken Europe. This dependency is bad for both the United States and Europe. While some interdependency is reasonable, relying on U.S. data to operate European long-range missiles reeks of strategic vulnerability and undermines Europe’s ability to act independently in its own defense.
Let us hope that the Biden administration removes these restrictions before it leaves office. It would be better if they acted immediately, as it would enable Ukraine to respond to Russia’s escalating attacks in Kursk Oblast by targeting the immediate rear and critical nodes the Russians are using to supply their frontline troops.
There is also a political advantage in doing so. If the Biden administration removes the restriction, it would be difficult for a Trump administration to reverse it once in power. They likely wouldn’t, as doing so would make them appear weak — contrary to MAGA’s “macho” image.